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Attorney
By
Attorney
 Career
Profiles of the Profession
Who?
What?
Primary Practice Area & Subspecialty Fields:
Real Estate; Commercial Finance; Commercial Lending; Bankruptcy;
Corporate and Environmental
When?
Years in Practice Area:
Since 1977
Years in the Legal Profession:
Since 1977
Where?
Employer:
Goodman Weiss Miller LLP
Size/Sector:
9 attorneys
City/State:
Cleveland, OH 44114
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Law School:
Case Western Reserve University School of Law - J.D. 1977
Undergraduate School/Degree:
Union College, Schenectady, NY - B.A., Classics-Greek 1974
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Why?
Pluses/Challenges of Practice Area:
Ever-changing transaction requirements; finding ways to make a
deal work when challenges arise while still preserving the client's
transaction goals; seeing something tangible (real estate projects)
rise from the ground from the work I perform.
Core Skills/Key Knowledge Needed in Your Practice Area:
Ability to negotiate with people from varying backgrounds and
environments; flexibility; tenacity; understanding of commercial
and secured transaction law of all applicable jurisdictions.
Advice to Lawyers and Law Students Interested in Your Practice
Area:
Commercial real estate and finance are challenging areas essential
to business and which will always be with us. Recognize that every
area of law has its own positives and drudgery work and that any
field can be as exciting and challenging as you wish to make it.
How?
Career Path to Current Position:
I started out in a very small (6 lawyer) firm, after which I went
"in-house" to a federal savings and loan association (where I
began to learn the art of commercial lending), then to a large,
multi-jurisdictional firm, a mid-sized local firm, and then to
my present smaller firm.
Influences and Mentors:
Chilton Thomson, High School English Teacher (encouraged love
of reading and writing and general inquisitiveness); Howard A.
Marken, partner in my first law firm (role model in the real estate
and legal practice areas). Recognize that the experienced attorneys
in your first legal work environment will be a significant influence
on the development of your career. I received a great deal of
help and support, as well as positive suggestions and encouragement,
from the people in my first firm which I have found to be helpful
even today.
Suggested Reading About Your Practice Area:
DIRT List Serv
Job Search Techniques Used in Finding Your Position(s):
Unsolicited headhunter inquiry, information-gathering through
informal networking of professionals.
Bar Affiliations and Activities:
- American Bar Association leadership service includes:
- Section of Real Property Probate and Trust Law: Member
(1986-Present); Speaker, moderator, or manager at CLE programs
for almost all Spring and Annual Section Meetings (1990-present),
E-DIRT Managing Editor (1999-present), Technology Committee
Member (1997-present), Council Member (2002-present), Liaison
to the Law Practice Management Section (2000-present), and
Practice Management Group Chair (2004-present). Previously
the I-6 Committee Chair (1991-1995) and B-1 Committee Chair
(1997-2001) and Vice Chair (1995-1997).
- Section of Law Practice Management: Marketing & Membership
Committee Vice-Chair (2004-present).
- Section of Business Law: Member and Savings Institution
Committee Member (1983-present).
- Cleveland Bar Association leadership service includes:
- Real Property Section: Chair (1989) and Real Estate
Law Institute Planning Committee (1985-Present).
- Annual Real Estate Institute: Chairman (1986).
- Environmental Law Section: Founder and First Chair (1991-1995).
- Fellow of the American College of Mortgage Attorneys.
Recent Professional Presentations:
Moderated technology presentations for Cleveland Bar Association
Real Estate Institutes in 1999 and 2000; created CLE programs on
technology and law office economics issues for the American Bar
Association Real Property, Probate & Trust Law Section Spring and
Annual Meetings in 1999 and 2000, with a program currently scheduled
for April 2001 on digital transactions.
Intriguing Interests:
Opera, jazz, Greek literature (in the original), travel, golf,
and skiing.
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